Secret
by hetafan13
Summary: Arthur is an angel who is a bit too curious about the human world for his own good. Alfred is the first human that he meets, a prince who steals his heart the moment the two lock eyes with each other. At that moment, Arthur realizes that he'll do anything to be together with Alfred... anything. Based off of the Kagamine Rin & Len Vocaloid song "Himitsu Kuro no Chikai ", AU.
1. Chapter 1

**Title:** Secret

**Rating:** T

**Summary:** Arthur is an angel who is a bit too curious about the human world for his own good. Alfred is the first human that he meets, a prince who steals his heart the moment the two lock eyes with each other. At that moment, Arthur realizes that he'll do anything to be together with Alfred..._ anything. _Based off of the Kagamine Rin & Len Vocaloid song "Himitsu ~Kuro no Chikai~" ("Alluring Secret ~Black Vow~"), AU.

* * *

_"The fallen angel_

_Abandoned himself to a corrupt vow_

_He rid himself of all the days_

_He had spent loving_."

* * *

Britannia sat on the clouds, watching the world below him—the world of humans, creatures so free despite being grounded, despite being restricted in the binds of time—with a wistful gaze. He knew. He knew that angels—creatures like himself—should not be thinking such thoughts, but they continued to plague him day after day: _I want to leave this place... I want to explore that world, I want to interact with the creatures within it—Just once, just one time..._

It's not as if Britannia was unhappy—he was one of the highest ranked angels in all of Heaven, answering only to God himself, but... he still felt as if there was something missing from his life, something that he wouldn't be able to find in Heaven, despite it supposedly being a paradise in which all your desires are met. _That doesn't apply to angels, apparently—unless it's not Heaven that's the problem, but it's... me?_

Beings who live in Heaven are only composed of mind and soul, with any solid form they might have had at some point being left behind in the realm of the humans, Earth. Of course, this normally wouldn't be an issue, but in the few instances that a spirit _did_ have something on its mind... it was always too much for them to bear.

Day after day, month after month, year after year, these thoughts weighed on Britannia's mind until, one day, the clouds no longer supported his weight. He found his wish being granted, but certainly not in the way he'd expected—all of a sudden, he found himself falling, and falling, and falling...

* * *

Britannia groaned, opening his eyes. The first thing he noticed was that he was in pain. _But... how is that possible? There is no pain in His land..._ His form felt heavy, and he struggled to sit up, looking around him in shock, confusion, and slight fear. _This isn't... w-where am I?_ A thought occurred to him, and his breath caught in his throat. _Have I really... is this really...?_ He felt an odd sensation: water, clouding his vision and streaming down his face, a sudden rush of foreign emotions and thoughts hitting him at once. He shakily reached a hand to his face, wiping some of the water off and looking at his now-wet fingertips, trying to recall the name that humans gave to water that came from their eyes. _Tears, I believe... But why are there tears coming from my eyes? This has never happened before..._ A sudden fear struck him, and he quickly reached behind him, not sure whether to be relieved or scared when he felt both of his wings still on his back—they were both badly damaged from the fall, and it would probably take months at best before he could even _think_ about flying again, but they were still there... and while he was relieved that he hadn't lost the part of himself that he had honestly treasured the most, he was also fearful as to what this might mean. _Angels cannot enter the realm of humans—or at least, not with a physical form..._ He suddenly recalled the feeling of falling, and dread washed over him. _Fallen... N-no, I can't be! I... I wanted to visit the humans' realm, yes, but... not like this..._ Britannia was afraid—no, _terrified_—that, because of his thoughts, his desire... he might never be allowed back in Heaven again. _"Fallen angels may never pass through the Gates of Heaven... they are tainted, impure, and can only reside in two realms: Earth, the realm of the humans, in which they will most likely be killed by the very same humans that they were born to protect and watch over... or the realm of the fallen angel Lucifer..."_ Britannia shuddered, unable to even think the name of the realm; the name alone completely repulsed and scared him, as it did to any angel.

Britannia was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't even notice someone coming closer until the person was standing right in front of him, staring down at him with wide eyes and a surprised and awed expression on his face. Britannia tried to back away, suddenly afraid of what this person—this _human_—might do to him, and mentally berating himself for not paying closer attention to his surroundings, when his eyes happened to drift up and lock onto the human's eyes. He suddenly felt all of his strength leave him, unable to tear his eyes away from the bright, pure, sky-blue eyes of the boy standing in front of him. He felt his heart pounding hard in his chest and his face flushing slightly.

He didn't realize it at that moment, but he'd just experienced falling in love for the first time—"love at first sight" in the truest sense of the phrase.

The boy was the first to snap out of his shocked state, smiling warmly at Britannia and apparently taking the angel's staring as him being scared. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna hurt you or anything..." His smile faded into a slight frown as he glanced over his shoulder warily before turning back to Britannia. "... Though we'd better get you out of here before someone who _will_ hurt you finds you... I'm pretty sure not a lot of people would react well to seeing a person with wings lying on the ground like that." He smiled again and held out his hand to Britannia. "Come on. Let me help you up; you can come and stay at my place, and I'll help you fix up those cuts and stuff."

Britannia felt his heart pound even harder and faster as the boy directed a smile at him not once, but twice, his eyes continuing to shine bright with sincerity and honest concern. _I can trust him._ In the frenzied state his mind was in, this was the only sensical thing that Britannia's mind could process... and really, just how sensical is it to trust someone that you'd only just met, without knowing anything about them—not even their name?

But Britannia had never experienced falling in love before; he didn't know the things that love could do to one's ability to think rationally. So instead of attempting to think rationally—or think at _all_, really—Britannia lifted his hand up to tentatively clasp the boy's hand, who, in a surprising show of strength despite his seemingly lanky frame, pulled Britannia up with ease.

"Wow, you're light as a feather... but I guess that makes sense, given... well..." The boy bit his bottom lip nervously, obviously hesitant to speak. "Are you really... y'know... an _angel?_"

"... I don't know anymore..." Britannia answered honestly, his tone and expression both crestfallen and slightly scared.

The boy glanced away, obviously feeling bad for asking despite not really understanding the situation too well, and a minute or two of silence passed before he spoke up again. "... We'd better cover up your wings... If someone else sees you... " He'd constantly heard talk of burning witches and exterminating demons and evil spirits, and he feared that the winged creature in front of him would be attacked and accused of being one of these creatures when he knew that he wasn't. Granted, he didn't actually _know_ anything about the creature whose hand was so delicately holding onto his own in an attempt to remain standing, but he could tell that the creature was, if not an actual angel, then as close to an angel as a creature could possibly get, and that was good enough for him.

Britannia was pulled out of his worried thoughts by the feeling of something draping over his shoulders, and he winced, the material slightly aggravating the wounds on his wings. He looked up to the boy nervously, wondering what he was doing, before he realized that the boy's jacket was missing... and it only took one glance at the material covering his wings and hanging over his shoulders to realize where the boy's jacket had gone. He felt his face heating up yet again, but luckily the boy didn't seem to notice as he started talking again. "There we go, that should do it! Hope that's not bothering your wings too much..." Britannia shook his head "no," and the boy put on another one of those smiles that made Britannia's heart lurch in his chest. "Oh, good. Then we should probably get going now, uh..." He blinked. "Oh, right, I don't think we ever really introduced each other, did we?" He grinned. "My name's Alfred! Alfred F. Jones! What about you?"

Arthur opened his mouth slightly to respond with "Britannia" when he stopped. _I... am I even still "Britannia" anymore? Britannia was the name of one of the most powerful angels in His realm—if I truly have Fallen, then I don't deserve to refer to myself with the name that He gave me..._ He struggled to think of a name to give the boy—Alfred—in return, before remembering the name of the first child that he had been assigned to watch over, when he first started off in Heaven as a guardian angel. "A... Arthur. M-my name is Arthur."

Alfred looked at him curiously. "Arthur..." He repeated, as if testing the name out, before smiling widely. "That's a really nice name; it really fits you!"

Britannia—_no, not Britannia, I have to remember that I'm not Britannia anymore...—Arthur_ felt his cheeks heating up even more, just barely managing to stammer out a quiet "t-thank you" before Alfred pulled him out of the alleyway he'd fallen into, and towards the more bustling part of the city. Arthur shifted himself closer to Alfred nervously, not wanting to get lost in the crowd, but despite his nervousness, he had a small, awed smile on his face as his eyes darted around, taking everything in.

Alfred quickly led Arthur through the crowds of people, weaving through them and making his way back to his home with practiced ease. Except... it was quite obvious when Alfred came to a stop that he was leading Arthur not to a house, but to a _mansion_. Alfred turned to face Arthur for the first time since seeing him in the alleyway, and was slightly embarrassed by the expression on Arthur's face. "C-c'mon, this way." Alfred led Arthur around to what appeared to be a closed off wall surrounded by shrubbery, but Alfred let go of Arthur's hand (he was grateful that Arthur seemed much more steady on his feet than before) and pushed the shrubbery aside, revealing a hole in the wall large enough for a person to climb through. "It took a lot of work, but I always hated being cooped up in there..." Alfred explained, and he climbed through the hole before helping Arthur through, having minor difficulty because of Arthur's wings. After a minute or two of carefully trying to fit him through the hole, Alfred was able to pull Arthur through, and he led Arthur around the edges of the large property, reaching a back door and opening it to let Arthur and himself inside. He then proceeded to help Arthur sneak upstairs, only letting out a sigh of relief once the two of them were in Alfred's room with the door locked behind them. "Phew... Glad we managed to get back here without anyone seeing us..."

Arthur looked around at the large bedroom in awe, but was too nervous to move from his spot and look around, worried that he might anger or upset Alfred by doing so. Alfred, meanwhile, was busy looking Arthur up and down (for injuries, not for any other reason, of course). Finally, he decided to break the silence. "Um, so... now what? I mean, I'll help you out with all those cuts and stuff, and you can stay here with me for a while until you feel better, but... what happens after that? Do you have anywhere to go?"

Arthur looked down at the floor sadly. "... I don't know—I _wish_ I knew... but I can only hope that I'll be allowed back into Heaven. Otherwise..." He shook his head slightly, but made no attempt to finish his sentence, letting it trail off ominously.

Alfred honestly didn't like the way that sounded, nor did he like the depressed look on Arthur's face, so he moved closer to Arthur, carefully taking his jacket off of Arthur's smaller frame and smiling. "Don't worry about it, Arthur. You can stay here with me until you figure something out! Just, uh..." his smile faded into a more sheepish, apologetic expression, "... you'll probably have to lay low and keep quiet... and you won't really be able to leave my room unless it's really dark out... I honestly don't know how my parents or the rest of the people here would react to seeing you, and I don't want you to get caught and then for them to... y-y'know."

Arthur eyed Alfred nervously, Alfred's conditions sounding much too much like him keeping him in captivity for Arthur's liking, but he relaxed when he saw Alfred's kind and honestly caring expression, realizing and acknowledging that Alfred didn't have those kinds of intentions in the least. He lifted his head to look at Alfred and smiled softly. "If you'll have me... then I'd be eternally grateful to stay here with you, at least until I've recovered and straightened out this situation." _If being in captivity means I get to stay with Alfred... then I don't mind sacrificing my freedom._

Alfred's smile in response to Arthur's statement lit up his entire face, and the poor angel just continued to fall deeper and deeper in love, without even realizing it.

* * *

Three months had passed since then. Being an angel, Arthur required no food or water to stay alive, and thus was able to stay confined in Alfred's room without it affecting his health. This also meant that Alfred didn't have to worry about drawing too much attention to himself—because Arthur noticed right away that the staff at Alfred's mansion could be very sharp (and very nosy) when they wanted to be, and there was no doubt that they'd immediately be suspicious if they saw Alfred carrying large helpings of food to his room constantly. After each day that passed, Arthur felt his body healing more and more... and he felt himself falling harder and harder for the sweet boy who had taken him in. But he never once spoke of these growing feelings, the growing desire to hold Alfred in his arms, to kiss him, to go so far as to commit an act of one of the Seven Deadly Sins with him; he instead covered these thoughts and feelings up with a scowl and harsh words that Alfred seemed to see right through, and managed to make melt away with the simplest words and actions until Arthur's expression shyly faded into a smile, a smile meant for Alfred and _only_ for Alfred.

He knew. He knew that it was wrong, that an angel should never love one single human—angels were born to love all creatures equally and unconditionally. So to have all of that love that was supposed to be spread to all creatures in existence be instead focused on one single human being... Arthur, while he knew that it was fundamentally wrong for an angel to fall in love with a human, didn't realize what exactly focusing all that love on a single being did to a creature like himself: the love would consume him, body, mind, and soul, until he was physically unable to think of anything else but his beloved. Which, as romantic as it might have sounded, could also be quite dangerous.

Of course, Arthur didn't know this at first. Instead, he found it out the hard way.

Arthur was busy waiting for Alfred to return to his room, carefully stretching out his wings while making sure not to knock anything over. _I wonder how much longer I can hide that I'm feeling well enough to leave... I don't think I could bear living without Alfred... maybe he'll just let me live here with him? Or maybe the two of us could run away; I could fly him out of here, and we could find somewhere new to live, somewhere just for the two of us..._ The thought of having Alfred all to himself made him blush and smile widely, his heart already speeding up in anticipation. Of course, he had no idea if Alfred actually felt the same way towards him, but from all the time that Alfred spent with him, smiling at him, laughing with him, keeping Arthur as his own little secret—Arthur felt that if Alfred was so willing to keep him to himself, for his eyes and his eyes alone, then he must have feelings for him too...

... _Right? If he didn't want me here anymore, then I'm sure he wouldn't have let me stay here this long... He loves me too, I'm sure he does..._ And yet he was always too afraid to broach the subject, afraid of taking that step to change the relationship between the two of them...

He heard voices drawing closer to Alfred's room and retracted his wings, moving to hide when he froze in place, their words reaching his ears and making his heart come to a halt.

"... one more month until Master Alfred's wedding! Can you believe how fast time flies?"

"I know, I know! To think that Master Alfred is finally getting married... I had worried that no lady would wish to be his bride, given his... _tendencies,_ but it seems that Lady Anya has fallen hard for him, somehow... at least Master Jones can be sure that his son is marrying a proper lady, and not one of those street urchins that Master Alfred seems to be so fond of."

The rest of whatever the servants might have said faded into white noise in Arthur's mind as he sunk to the floor, feeling as if his entire world was suddenly crashing down around him. _He's... getting married...? But he... he never said anything about... about a wedding, about a fiance... nothing... why...?_

When Alfred came back to his room two hours later, he found Arthur in the same position—collapsed on his knees, staring ahead with a blank look. "A-Artie! What's wrong?!" He rushed over to Arthur, hastily helping him stand up, and subsequently snapping Arthur out of his dazed state.

"I... You..." He looked at Alfred, a hurt and betrayed expression on his face. "... You're getting married."

Alfred's eyes widened in surprise. "H-how did you—"

Arthur cut him off, his tone more depressed and hurt than angry. "Your servants. I heard them talking about it."

"O-oh..." Alfred glanced away, a guilty expression on his face. "... Yeah, I'm getting married." He shrugged, attempting to seem nonchalant. "It's how things work for humans, Artie—rich families marry off their sons to other rich families' daughters, whether the people being married off like it or not... and, well, Anya's not _bad_—she's certainly pretty enough, at the very least—but she's kinda... well, _completely_ crazy. Not just her, but her whole family... the whole bunch of 'em are completely nuts." He shrugged again. "But like I said, I've gotta do what I've gotta d—MMPH!"

Arthur was unable to stand it any longer—he grabbed Alfred and pulled him into a kiss, cutting him off mid-sentence. _You can't get married! You __**can't!**__ If you get married, you'll leave me! ... Please, Alfred, I love you, all I want is to be together with you... Please don't leave me, please run away with me, please love me..._

Alfred was frozen in shock for a second or two, his face slowly growing more and more red, before his brain decided to start working again, and he panicked, pushing Arthur away with wide eyes. "Y-you... what..." Arthur stared at Alfred, a brokenhearted expression on his face, and Alfred couldn't even bring himself to look at Arthur anymore as he nervously backed away. "I-I've... Sorry, I've got to go for a sec, I... I've still got some things I need to do for the day." Alfred turned around and rushed out of the room, the sound of the door slamming behind him covering up the sound of Arthur collapsing to his knees once more.

"He... doesn't love me." Arthur shook his head. "N-no... no, that can't be it! He loves me, I know it, he just... h-he's probably afraid to do anything while he's engaged, that's all... He's such a sweet, pure boy... I don't deserve him, but..."

Tears streaming down his face, Arthur spoke the words that sealed his fate.

_"I will cast my pure heart away_

_If I can go on loving you..._

_I will even cut off my wings_

_And I will offer my body to the devil..."_

Arthur felt the temperature in the room drop, and he repressed a shiver, knowing exactly what he just did and fully prepared to face the consequences.

"**You have spoken my name and called upon me... My Fallen kin, there is something you desire, someone you lust for, is there not?**"

"I want to be able to love him... I want him to be able to love me back... I'll do anything, sacrifice anything, just let me be with him, please..."

The sound of a dark chuckle reverberated throughout the room. "**You are willing to pay any price? Very well then... Fallen angel, my kin, adhere to your own suggestion."**

Arthur felt a sharp pain in his back and repressed a shout, tears streaming down his face. _This is... for Alfred... With this, I can be together with Alfred... Alfred, I love you, I love you so much... It hurts... but I will take all the pain in the world if it means I can be with you..._

When Alfred came back to his room an hour later, the only sign that Arthur had ever been there was a single white feather on the floor.

* * *

_TBC_


	2. Chapter 2

**Title:** Secret

**Rating:** T

**Summary:** Arthur is an angel who is a bit too curious about the human world for his own good. Alfred is the first human that he meets, a prince who steals his heart the moment the two lock eyes with each other. At that moment, Arthur realizes that he'll do anything to be together with Alfred... _anything. _Based off of the Kagamine Rin & Len Vocaloid song "Himitsu ~Kuro no Chikai~" ("Alluring Secret ~Black Vow~"), AU.

**Author's Note:** I'd just like to give a huuuuuge thanks to my friend Taka (geekisthenewawesome here on FanFiction. net) for betaing this fic for me! ^_^

* * *

One month passed by, and Alfred's wedding day quickly approached—though, since Arthur's sudden disappearance, the wedding was the _last_ thing on Alfred's mind. Alfred instead spent his days worrying about what became of the angelic creature under his care—_Did someone find him? Did he leave on his own? Where did he go? Is he still hurt? Did someone else find him? Is he safe? Will I ever see him again?_—and mentally berating himself for acting so cruelly by panicking and pushing him away. Alfred was hardly even aware of the fact that tomorrow was his wedding, only becoming aware once the shouts of all of the servants in his parents' estate reached his ears. _I __**seriously**__ am not in the mood to deal with them... __**or**__ with this whole wedding business._ He let his feet guide him away from the noise—and hopefully to somewhere that none of the servants would find him.

As if to spite him, his feet led him to stand directly in front of the church at which he was to be wed.

Alfred sighed, before figuring that this _would_ be the last place that any of the servants would think to look for him. He was about to head into the church when, all of a sudden, he saw something—no, some_one_—out of the corner of his eye: the dainty figure of a young woman. Surprised, he turned around... and it felt as if time itself had ground to a halt, the only thing breaking the illusion being his heartbeat, which sped up so quickly that Alfred was sure that he would either get a heart attack, or that his heart would break the confines of his chest and shoot straight out of his body.

All it took was one look into the girl's emerald eyes for the poor boy to fall in love.

"Y-you... Who are you?" He walked closer to the girl, as if in a trance. "You seem... so familiar..." And that wasn't a lie, either—Alfred couldn't shake the feeling that he'd met this girl before, yet he was _positive_ that he'd never seen her before, not in his parents' estate nor in town...

The girl merely giggled in response, a smile on her face that seemed to be both joyous and sad at the same time. "Perhaps we have, perhaps we haven't. My name is Alice—what's yours?"

"A-Alfred... M-my name's Alfred..." Alfred couldn't help the blush that crossed his face as he moved even closer to Alice, almost until they were chest to chest, but no matter how close Alfred got, Alice never made a move to back away.

Alice smiled up at Alfred, and he felt his heart lurch pleasantly in his chest in response. Before either of them could say anything else, Alfred heard the sound of the servants moving closer to the two of them, completely ruining the moment (in Alfred's opinion, anyway). Alfred frowned before tentatively grabbing Alice's hand. "Let's get out of here before they find us." Alice merely smiled at him in response, and Alfred felt any hesitance he may have had fade away at the sight of that smile, directing a smile of his own at her before confidently leading Alice away from the church, away from the servants, away from his old life, wanting nothing more than to be alone with the woman who had captured his heart with a single glance.

* * *

Alfred was, for once in his life, grateful for his status as he took Alice to an inn in town, needing only to give his full name before being allowed to stay with no charge necessary. He knew, however, that he could only stay a night at the most before his parents put out word of his disappearance, which would no doubt result in the innkeeper turning him in for a couple of gold coins—the result of an insatiable greed, truly one of humankind's most prominent sins. He decided not to focus on that for the moment, however, and instead took Alice to the inn's bar to get something to eat and drink.

Alfred, as if under a spell, found himself completely opening up to this familiar stranger, telling her everything about himself as they ate—possibly in an attempt to impress her, or possibly in a simple attempt to let her know more about himself, it was hard for even Alfred himself to judge his intentions. Alice herself hardly divulged any personal information, but Alfred didn't mind, his love (or was it lust? Alfred could hardly distinguish between the two _before_ he'd felt anything like this, let alone _now_) blinding him to anything but the fact that he has strong feelings for the girl—_no, young woman, this beautiful young woman_—sitting in front of him, who seemed to be honestly interested in everything he had to say, her beautiful eyes shimmering and staring up at him as if drinking in his every last word.

The night wore on, and Alfred found himself further loosening up after a drink or two—he'd never tasted alcohol before, so it wasn't too much of a surprise to find that he was a lightweight—and, with a flushed face, he suddenly leaned over and captured Alice's lips with his own. The feeling of her soft, smooth lips against his own suddenly sobered him up, and he was about to pull away and apologize, pinning his action on the alcohol (and most certainly _not_ on his own personal desire), when Alice kissed back. Elated beyond words, Alfred pulled her closer to deepen the kiss, feeling himself falling deeper and deeper into the clutches of lust as his hands begin to wander, exploring Alice's body.

Alfred pulled away for air, and only then did he become conscious of where exactly the two of them were. "U-um... I guess we should probably go upstairs, right...?" He eyed Alice nervously, silently asking her if this was all right. When she looked at him with a shy smile, her face flushed, and nodded, he smiled in return and took her hand. His heart pounded out of his chest as he led her up to their room, locking the door behind them before shyly pressing his lips against hers, only allowing himself to be more forceful when he felt Alice kissing back. Their passion flared more and more the closer the two got to the bed, letting their instincts combined with the heat of the moment guide their actions as they fell to the bed in a tangled heap of limbs and locked lips. They only stopping to breathe out the purest of vows—"I love you, Alice," "I love you, Alfred,"—before violating them with the darkest of transgressions in His eyes.

That night, man and woman each partook of the forbidden fruit, the fruit of blazing lust, and surrendered themselves to the sin.

* * *

The entirety of Heaven was in a frenzy, and the most frenzied of all the angels in Heaven was the archangel Francis. Francis had been in Heaven for much longer than most angels, including Arthur, who he had "raised" from a cherub to a fully grown and extremely powerful angel. He had "raised" other angels aside from Arthur in his long existence, but none had ever captivated him as Arthur had: From his completely un-angelic words and actions (some swore that he was a demon in disguise as an angel, despite Francis's insistence that he'd seen the moment when Arthur was "born" and could confirm that, yes, Arthur was indeed an angel) down to his unnaturally large eyebrows, everything about the emerald-eyed angel seemed to draw Francis in like a moth to a flame—a flame that, Francis found, was more than willing to fan out and burn him if he even _thought_ about getting too close. But instead of pushing him away, this seemed to pull Francis even closer to him, until the archangel realized that his heart had been claimed by the feisty angel.

Tens upon hundreds of years passed since this revelation, and Francis's love for Arthur only continued to intensify—as with an angel loving a single human, an angel falling in love with another angel had the same results—until he was completely obsessed with Arthur, unable to think about or focus on anything other than him. He would constantly be with Arthur for every waking moment (much to Arthur's chagrin) wanting to "bond" with him, and he was lucky that angels' bodies were incapable of actually getting hurt while in heaven, otherwise he'd have many broken bones to attend to—but to Francis, all the pain in the world would be worth it if it meant that Arthur's attention was on him and _only_ on him.

Never had he said a single word about his feelings for Arthur, content in his belief that he had all the time in the world to tell him—except now he was beginning to realize that this might not be the case after all.

"What do you mean he's nowhere in Heaven?! He has to be _somewhere!_ Oh _mon Dieu_, what if he's been captured by one of those repulsive _démons?!_ What if he's being held captive against his will?! What if he's being tortured by those awful brutish beings?! What if—"

"What if he's on Earth?" another angel nervously interrupted, and Francis turned to glare at the angel before processing his words.

"Earth...? _C-c'est ridicule!_ Why would he be on Earth without His consent? He has no business down there—"

"But it's the only place we haven't checked, aside from the Fallen One's realm..."

Francis found that he couldn't argue with that, and it seemed to be his best chance of finding Arthur at the moment (without charging head-first into Hell to look for Arthur himself), so he made his way to the area of Heaven that Arthur seemed to frequent the most—the area in which angels could look down and observe Earth and its inhabitants. As this thought hit him, he realized that Arthur being down on Earth was actually not such a far-fetched idea as he'd first thought it to be. It would also account for why no one managed to see Arthur disappear—this area was closed off to most angels, and only those with high ranks like Arthur and himself were allowed to freely enter here, meaning that it was almost always empty. "Arthur, _mon amour_, are you really on Earth? Why would you leave without His permission, without telling anyone... without telling _me?_" He looked down through the clouds, searching desperately for any sign of Arthur's angelic presence.

When he finally found it, however, he wished that he hadn't.

"_Quoi... qu'est-ce que c'est...?_"

Francis watched as Arthur met with a male human—_a male that isn't __**me**__, a person that isn't __**me**__, a __**being**__ that isn't __**me**_—and he felt something eating away at him from the inside, something that continued to grow as he watched the human take Arthur's hand, watched the human talk to him, watched how Arthur stared up at the human in what Francis could only assume was a disguised form—it didn't matter what form Arthur took, Francis would always be able to recognize him without a doubt—and then, to his utter fury, he watched as the human defiled _his_ Arthur in an animalistic display of lust. And all the while he wondered what this human could have done to _his_ Arthur that would make him look so happy, so content, even as he's being _defiled_... while _he_ could hardly ever even manage to get the slightest smile to work its way onto Arthur's face.

Angels weren't meant to feel hatred. Angels weren't meant to feel the need for wrath. Angels weren't meant to feel envy. And yet Francis felt all of this and then some as his eyes bore into the human who dared to steal _his_ Arthur away.

"Arthur, _mon amour_, I have not the faintest idea what spell that human has cast over you, but I will be sure to break it and bring you back to Heaven, where you belong."

Francis disappeared from the area and reappeared in another secluded area, closed off to everyone but archangels like himself—even Arthur wouldn't be able to get into this room. He picked up a gun, the only gun in heaven—its purpose being to be used in the "purification" of demons—and turned it over in his hand, his expression darkening. _I __**will**__ get mon amour back... no matter what it takes._

* * *

Alfred let out a small groan as the sun streamed in through the window, hitting him directly in his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face in Alice's hair in an attempt to hide himself from the light, prompting a quiet laugh from the slowly-waking-up Alice. Alfred mumbled something unintelligible, his voice muffled by Alice's hair, before kissing the top of Alice's head and reluctantly pulling himself away. "Unfortunately, as much as I'd love to just lie here all day, we've gotta get going..."

"Worried about your parents finding us?" Alice's voice was quiet and laced with lingering sleepiness as she yawned, attempting to stretch before wincing, her body sore from the previous night's activities.

"Yeah, I— A-are you all right?" Alfred immediately noticed the wince that Alice attempted to unsuccessfully hide and felt guilty, knowing that he was the cause. "I'm sorry, I just... Last night, that was"—he blushed slightly and glanced away—"t-that was my first time..." He turned his gaze back to Alice, a concerned and apologetic expression on his face. "I'm sorry if I hurt you, I jus—"

Alice gently pressed her lips to Alfred's, effectively silencing his nervous apologies. "I'm fine, Alfred. I'm just a little sore, it's nothing to worry about. And, well..." She blushed as well, but stubbornly held her gaze, a small smile on her face. "... that was my first time too... and of all the people in the world that I could have chosen to fall for, and to give myself to... I'm glad it was you, Alfred. I love you."

Alfred was both surprised and touched by Alice's words, realizing that this was the first time that she was really opening up to him, He felt so incredibly happy that he couldn't help but pull Alice into a deep, passionate kiss.

Alice's eyes fluttered closed upon feeling Alfred's lips pressing against hers, allowing herself to get swept up in the passion of the sudden, unexpected kiss. She let out a small noise of discontent as Alfred pulled away, prompting a quiet chuckle from Alfred.

"Sorry, Alice... I'd love to stay here in bed with you all day"—he blushed slightly at the implications of this statement before continuing—"but like I said, we've really gotta get going..." He reluctantly began to move out of the bed, his face flushing even more as he realized that they were both still unclothed. He attempted to discreetly cover himself with the sheets—or cover himself as much as possible without pulling them off of Alice in the process, anyway. "U-um... Well, I'm just going to clean up and get dressed... unless you want to go first?"

Alice laughed quietly at Alfred's sudden shyness. "You realize I saw you last night, right?" As Alfred's blush deepened, Alice found another laugh bubbling up, but she attempted to push it back down in hopes of helping Alfred save face, if only for a little. "All right, you can go first, Alfred. I'll wait until you're done." To try and make Alfred feel a bit better, Alice closed her eyes so that Alfred could make his way to the bathroom.

Alfred, his face still burning with embarrassment, made his way to the bathroom as fast as possible, washing himself up and slipping back into his clothes from last night (he'd left so suddenly that he hadn't thought to take anything with him, including a change of clothes) before reentering the bedroom. "Alright, I'm done..." He trailed off, glancing away with a blush as Alice nodded and moved out of the bed to gather her clothes and go to the bathroom. Once she closed the door, he let out a quiet sigh before grinning widely. _I can't believe this is happening... it should feel like we're moving too fast, but this just seems... __**right**__... like the two of us were meant to be together..._ Alfred was hit with a sudden idea, and by the time that Alice came out of the bathroom, dressed and ready to go, Alfred had a huge grin on his face and a plan in mind for the day.

"And what might that smile be for, _Mister Jones?_" Alice asked in a teasing tone, honestly curious about what may have caused Alfred's large smile.

"You'll see, don't worry~" Alfred continued to grin as he moved towards Alice and took her hand in his own, leading her towards the door and downstairs towards the exit, happy to find that the innkeeper hadn't tried to capture him or anything of the sort just yet. Alfred led Alice down a path outside the inn, stopping only to dig through his pockets and pull out three pure-gold coins, which he used in the marketplace they passed through to get a blanket, a basket, and enough food for lunch.

Alice blushed slightly, catching on to Alfred's plan. "A picnic, Alfred?" She laughed quietly, leaning up and giving him a quick peck on the cheek. "That's so sweet!"

Alfred blushed, a wide smile on his face. "I-it's nothing... I just thought of it on the spot, since there's somewhere that I really wanted to show you..."

"Somewhere you wanted to show me?" Alice looked up at him, a small smile on her face despite her confusion.

"Mm-hmm~ It's a surprise, though! ... I hope you'll like it..." Alfred glanced away out of embarrassment, suddenly wondering if Alice would think that what he had in mind was silly.

Alice took Alfred's free hand and laced their fingers together, leaning up to give Alfred another kiss on the cheek. "I'm sure I'll love it."

Alfred smiled, gently squeezing Alice's hand before leading her away from town, keeping a tight hold on the picnic basket in his other hand as he walked, not wanting to drop it. They walked, and walked, and walked, the area around them becoming increasingly less urban and increasingly more rural. "We're almost there~"

Alice kept silent, curious as to where Alfred was taking her, but nothing could have prepared her for the simple yet breathtaking sight that met her eyes. "Oh Alfred..."

Spread out before them was a field full of beautiful flowers, leading to a large, grass and flower covered hill that no doubt would provide an even _more_ breathtaking view for anyone who climbed to the top. Alfred turned to Alice with a small, nervous smile. "... Do you like it? Not too many people know about this place, so it's kinda like my own secret hide-out whenever I manage to sneak out of the castle, ahaha..."

Alice smiled, her whole face lighting up as she turned to Alfred. "Like it? I _love_ it! Alfred, this is just... it's beautiful..." Though she wouldn't say it aloud, the thought that Alfred had been willing to share this secret place with her—a place that was obviously special to him—moved her even more than the place itself.

Alfred let out a small, relieved sigh before smiling widely. "I'm glad to hear it." He leaned in, giving her a quick peck on the lips. His happy smile suddenly turned impish as he put the basket down on the ground before rushing towards the hill, shouting over his shoulder, "First one to the top wins!"

Alice stared for a second or two, startled, before snapping out of it and attempting to scowl despite her laughter. "You cheater!" She rushed off up the hill after him, just barely managing to catch up and collapse next to him on the top of the hill, trying to catch her breath in between laughter echoed by Alfred.

The two of them lay side-by-side, their laughter trailing off into a comfortable silence as they took each other's hand in their own and stared up at the clear sky, simply enjoying the peace and serenity of the moment. After a few minutes, Alfred sat up, prompting a curious look from Alice as she sat up along with him, watching as Alfred, with a blush and a small smile, picked two small flowers and tied the stem for each flower in a loop. "Alice..." Alfred started off, too embarrassed to even meet Alice's eyes. "I know that this may seem sudden, but, well... I-I dunno. This is all so fast, but there's just something... _right_ about it, y'know?"

Alice nodded in response, and, curious as to where this was headed, she prompted Alfred to continue.

"Well, I mean... e-especially after last night, I just... I-I mean, of course you don't have to agree or anything, but if you did I'd be really happy because I really like being with you and I know it sounds weird but I feel... _complete_ or something when I'm with you, like I was looking for you my whole life and I just didn't know it and I thought I felt something like this before but I'm really feeling it even more strongly with you especially right now and—"

Alice put a finger to Alfred's lips with an amused smile, effectively silencing him. "Alfred, you're rambling."

Alfred flushed, waiting for Alice to move her finger before speaking once more. "I-I know this isn't much, and I promise to do better, but I-I'm hoping that this will be enough for now..." He held out one of the small flowers to Alice, and only then did she realize that he'd been twisting the stems of the two flowers he'd picked so he could make them into rings. "A-Alice, I want to spend the rest of my life with you—I know this may seem very sudden, and too fast, and of course you can say no, b-but I really do want to be with you forever, and everyone's always told me that I never stop to think things through anyway, and I'm afraid that if I stop to think things through then I'll lose you and I-I really don't want that, s-so... will you marry me?"

Alice's breath caught in her throat as she stared at the ring for a few seconds, and just as Alfred was about to retract his hand and apologize, she threw her arms around him, the two of them falling backwards with the force of her hug. "Yes! Yes, of course I will! I love you, I've loved you from the moment I first met you, from the second I first looked into your eyes..." She leaned over Alfred, blue eyes meeting green, identical grins of joy and love on their faces. "I've felt it too, Alfred. Like... like we were meant to be together. Like there was something drawing us together... and last night..." She blushed slightly. "I've never felt more whole, more complete than I did last night... I love you so much, Alfred..."

Alfred lifted himself enough to slip the flower ring onto Alice's ring finger, handing Alice the other ring and letting her slip it onto his finger in return before he pulled her into a passionate kiss, the two of them falling back onto the grass and holding each other close as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed, and laughed, and smiled, and kissed some more.

Both were blissfully unaware of the pair of eyes watching them.

* * *

Francis grit his teeth. _That... that human bâtard—non, he isn't human, he must be a démon, sent after mon amour to trick him and pull him down to hell!_

He looked down at his borrowed form—an angel had no corporeal form, so he took the body of a man who had been in a coma, paying no heed to the humans' reactions as he jumped out of the bed and rushed towards where he sensed Arthur—and frowned distastefully. _I want to kill that démon and get this over with so mon amour and I can go back to heaven..._

He watched as the human moved away from Arthur and walked down a hill, following his gaze to a basket lying on the floor. He hid behind a nearby tree and readied his gun, his eyes fixed on the same spot as the human.

He wouldn't need more than a single shot to break whatever spell this demon had over _his_ Arthur.

* * *

Alfred finally pulled away from Alice when the sound of his stomach grumbling was audible even over their laughter. "Sorry, I should probably go grab the food so we can have some lunch, right?" He pressed another quick kiss to Alice's lips before standing up and stretching. "I'll be right back!"

Alice smiled and nodded, watching Alfred move down the hill with a soft expression before moving her gaze down to the flower ring on her finger. She carefully stroked the petals of the flower with her finger, unable to help the blush on her face as she moved the flower up to her lips.

_Perfect... everything is finally perfect. We're finally going to live happily ever after, together, just the two of us..._

The sound of a gunshot and a scream broke through her thoughts, and in that one moment, she felt her entire world collapsing around her.

"_**ALFRED!**_"

* * *

Francis smiled as he watched the bullet pierce the human's heart before he even knew what hit him, the human's dead body falling to the floor and a puddle of blood gathering around him.

_How disgusting these creatures are..._

Francis blinked, honestly shocked by the sudden thought that crossed his mind. _N-non, these are the creatures created in His image—there is nothing disgusting about them save for how easily they fall victim to Lucifer's influence._

He perked up as he saw Arthur hurrying down the hill towards him, smiling widely and holding his arms open. "_Mon amour_, I've come to break the spell this _démon_ cast on you and bring you back to heaven where you bel—"

He doubled over as Arthur ran over to him and kicked him as hard as he could before rushing over to the human's side, the sound of sobbing ringing out in the otherwise quiet clearing.

_W-what? I thought I broke the spell... so why...?_

_Why do you still love him? Why don't you love me for saving you?_

* * *

Alice collapsed by Alfred's side, not even caring that she was kneeling in a puddle of Alfred's blood as she laid across his chest, sobbing. "No, you can't be dead, you _can't!_ We were finally... finally going to be happy, finally going to be together and love each other forever and ever..."

_My fault... this is all my fault, this is what I get for making a deal with Lucifer, for turning my back on God and on His land, for trying to be with Alfred when we were destined for tragedy from the very beginning..._

Alice straightened up, her body beginning to glow and change form as she spoke, her voice carrying throughout the area despite being a quiet murmur.

"_My dear, lying cold_

_I will spend all my life for you as I swore on that day..._

_My sin against God..._

_All my acts of treachery should be paid by my death,_

_so I will die for you..._

_I believe, that's my fate._"

* * *

All Alfred could remember was a sudden, excruciating pain, and then... nothing.

_Am I... dead?_

The thought should have surprised him more, should have frightened him more, should have even just _affected_ him more... but it didn't. He felt as if he was floating in a sea of nothingness, not knowing nor caring about anything.

And then there was a light—and with the light, there was a voice... no, _two_ voices, both so, so familiar...

_Who are you? Why do you sound so sad?_

He moved towards the light without even thinking. _That person... I don't want that person to be upset..._

_Ar... __**Alice**__..._

* * *

Alice—_Arthur_—felt his lips twitching upward in a relieved smile as Alfred's pulse returned, followed by his breathing, and finally, after what felt like forever, his eyes slowly opened.

"... Alice...? No..." Alfred's eyes widened, and Arthur felt his heart clench in response. "... Arthur... what...?"

Arthur shook his head sadly, pressing a finger to Alfred's lips to silence him. "I'm sorry, Alfred... I'm so sorry... This is all my fault, I... I should have just let you go, I should have been happy for you and watched over you as you were wed, but..." He sobbed, shaking his head. "I couldn't do it. S-so I... I made a deal. One wing in exchange for a new body, a body that you wouldn't be ashamed to be with, one that you could love..."

Alfred's eyes widened. "A-Arthur... then you... you were..." His cheeks reddened in embarrassment and shock, and Arthur smiled sadly, even as he felt his heart breaking from the expression on Alfred's face.

"Yes. I'm Alice. And I understand if you hate me for deceiving you... for not telling you the truth..."

Alfred shook his head. "N-no, I... I don't..." He kept getting the feeling that there was something missing, and as he looked over Arthur's shoulder, he finally realized what it was. "Arthur... you said you... gave one wing. So where's... w-where's your other wing?"

Arthur smiled sadly, avoiding the question. "Alfred, do you know what happens when an angel loses his wings?"

Alfred dumbly shook his head "no," a feeling of dread settling in his stomach.

"An angel's wings are his life. Without his wings, an angel ceases to exist."

Alfred's eyes widened in shock and guilt, but before he could say anything, Arthur pressed his lips against his own, effectively silencing him—the kiss was so sudden, so unexpected, that by the time he recovered enough to try and kiss back, Arthur had already pulled away with a sad, resigned expression.

"I'm sorry, Alfred. I'm so sorry..."

Arthur closed his eyes, uttering three last words.

"_I love you..._"

Alfred's eyes widened, and he tried to say something, _anything_, but no matter what he did, his vocal chords refused to cooperate. _Dammit, no, no, no, no, no! W-why can't I say it, why?!_

"A-Arthur... I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you think that I didn't feel the same way! I lo—"

* * *

There was a flash of light, and all that was left of Arthur was a single black feather.

* * *

"_The wingless fallen angel_

_And the sinful black-stained groom:_

_Even as they fall into the depths of the earth_

_And the essentials of their vow entwine_

_They still carry an unforgivable sin._

_When the fruit of sin falls into decay_

_They can meet again, till then..."_


End file.
